Wrexham need to start preparing for life in the Championship following their promotion on Saturday.
The 2024/25 season is not yet over but attention is already beginning to turn toward planning for 2025/26.
Wrexham will increase their wage bill following promotion in order to try and compete with sides in the second tier.
Agents are contacting Phil Parkinson already as well, trying to offer up their clients to the Hollywood-owned club.
Parkinson has been cautious about making moves too early and disrupting the squad, but Wrexham will need to make changes to their team in the summer.
The manager has already discussed ‘tough decisions’ being made in the transfer market and a meeting with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney is planned already.
Wrexham need a new ‘big man’ striker
When they do decide to start bringing in players, it seems obvious that Wrexham will need a partner for Sam Smith.
Steven Fletcher is out of contract in June, and even if he does sign an extension, he’s already shown in League One that he is best utilised off the bench.
Elsewhere, Wrexham fans criticised Jay Rodriguez a fair amount after his January arrival and he too is now coming to the end of his career – turning 36 before 2025/26 kicks off.
There is then Ollie Palmer, who had transfer interest in the winter window and hasn’t featured in a league fixture since January.
Behind said trio, Modou Faal has shown promise during some EFL Trophy meetings but it remains clear he probably needs more experience under his belt before playing regularly in the Championship – a loan move this summer would be wise.
So, Wrexham should be looking to target another striker in the summer who, like Fletcher and Palmer have done previously, can operate in the big-man role.
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Wrexham should target Josh Coburn
On this front, there is one option that would be the perfect partner for Smith and his future beyond this season is in doubt.
Josh Coburn was loaned to Millwall by Middlesbrough in 2024 and, barring some injury issues, has excelled at the Den.
Coburn has five goals in 20 Championship appearances for the Lions, with manager Alex Neil recently backing the 22-year-old to be ‘hugley important’ in their play-off push and praising his physical presence, as per Southwark News.
He said: “I think he’ll be hugely important. At Sheffield United he put an unbelievable performance,
“What I’ve been really big on getting into him in terms of his physicality, is using his physical presence. I thought at Sheffield United, when Chris Wilder is moaning at me that he’s beating up [Jack] Robinson, I was buzzing, because that doesn’t happen very often. Jack normally likes a little bit of wrestle for wrestle, but I thought Josh beat him up really.”
Said behaviour is exactly what Parkinson looks for in his strikers, especially the one acting in what, for many years, was the Palmer role.
Coburn is due to return to the Riverside Stadium at the end of this season, but manager Michael Carrick clearly wasn’t a fan, sending him out on loan even when Boro needed more depth up front.
Should Boro, which they are expected to do, persist in targeting more modern, tricky forwards with a lot of pace, there doesn’t seem to be much room in the North East for Coburn.
He is a very traditional centre-forward and would no doubt be an excellent ‘big man’ option for Wrexham in the second tier.